The Reign of Terror (TV story)
The Reign of Terror 'is the eighth and final serial of the first season of ''Doctor Who. ''It was written by Dennis Spooner, directed by Heinrich Hirsch and featured William Hartnell as the First Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright and Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman. Overview ''To be added Synopsis The TARDIS arrives near Paris during the French Revolution, a time of great upheaval, bloodshed and terror. Soon, with the Doctor trapped inside a burning farmhouse, Ian imprisoned and Susan and Barbara on their way to the guillotine it’s clear this will be one of their most dangerous and exciting adventures yet… Plot A Land of Fear (1) The TARDIS materialises in a quiet forest; while the Doctor fiddles with the console, he assures Ian and Barbara that they have arrived back in their time, as Ian had 'requested', and will now say goodbye to them. Susan is heartily upset by their soon-to-be departure, but the schoolteachers try to comfort her before she runs off. The Doctor is still frustrated by Ian and Barbara's constant doubt over their location, showing the outside on the scanner to convince them. Ian then tempts the Doctor outside the ship to ensure their relative location before he quickly relents. The travellers step outside where they hear a series of gunshots. While he goes off to investigate, he finds a young boy scrounging through the bushes. The boy tells them that they are in France, nearby to Paris; before they can ask any more, the boy runs off to a nearby farmhouse where someone takes him in. Finding the farmhouse not long afterward, the Doctor opts to investigate it. Finding a way inside, he goes to check upstairs while Ian, Barbara and Susan look around downstairs. Susan finds a chest full off 18th Century attire, rations, weapons and other documents. Searching through the papers, they find a pass signed by Maximillien Robespierre, meaning that they've landed during the French Revolution. When looking through the upstairs rooms, the Doctor is struck from behind by an unseen assailant and knocked unconscious. After Ian, Barbara and Susan change outfits to blend in, they go to look for him when they are held at gunpoint by counter-revolutionaries, Rouvrey and D'Argenson. Rouvrey insists on questioning them, while D'Argenson panics over incoming soldiers and wishes to get away. Before they can argue further, the farmhouse is surrounded by revolutionary soldiers. Ian, Barbara and Susan go and look for the Doctor; D'Argenson panics and flees the house, followed calmly by Rouvrey. He orders the soldiers to stand down, taking a rifle from one, before another guns him down. D'Argenson is then taken by the soldiers and killed, before they then storm the house and capture all three of the travellers. The soldiers outside want to place the travellers in front of a firing squad immediately, but the Lieutenant instead opt to take them to the guillotine in Paris. As they leave, the soldiers decide to burn the house down, unaware that the Doctor is still inside it. A soldier throws a torch inside and ignites the hay on the bottom floor. Upstairs, the Doctor wakes up and tries to leave but finds the door locked. Ian, Barbara and Susan turn back to see the house engulfed in flames, uncertain if the Doctor escaped. Inside, he fails to get the door open and passes out in the smoke, just as the house's roof collapses in. Guests of Madame Guillotine (2) Arriving in Paris, Ian, Barbara and Susan are put in front of a judge and are sentenced to execution for being found with counter-revolutionaries and being traitors to the cause, without allowing them to make any argument. Ian is thrown in prison and Barbara assaults the prisoner warden when he make a move on her and he sends her and Susan to a separate cell, where Susan voices her concern over the Doctor, who they still know nothing of. Elsewhere, the Doctor awakens outside the farmhouse, having been dragged clear by the young boy from the forest. The child tells the Doctor where his friends have gone and heads off to Paris on foot to rescue them. In the cell, Susan starts to feel and act despondent to their situation, but Barbara encourages her to help find a way of escaping. Ian tends to another injured prisoner in his cell; the prisoner, Webster, knowing his won't long survive his wounds, gives Ian a message to pass on to an Englishman named James Stirling should he manage to escape and tells him where to find him before he dies. In the path to Paris, the Doctor stumbles across a chain gang being bullied by a violent and aggressive leader. After he complains about the slow speed of his men's work, the Doctor bluntly points out that the work would proceed faster if he were to stop shouting at the men and help them. The gang leader is angered by this and forces him to pick up tools and work at gunpoint. Barbara and Susan painfully attempt to lever a stone away from the wall with a makeshift crowbar. They are nearly caught by the warden but he is quickly called away. Ian is visited in his cell by a nobleman named Lamaitre, who demands Ian tell him about anything Webster said before his death, but he refuses to answer. Lamaitre then has the prison warden remove Webster's body from the cell. Susan tries to work on the wall again but is scared off doing any more when she finds rats. Back on the road to Paris, the Doctor tries to get himself and the other men free from the leader by distracting him with an approaching eclipse while he grabs a coin from his purse and pretends to uncover it while digging. The leader, believing there to be treasure in it for him, turns his back on the men and digs himself, giving the Doctor the chance to knock him unconscious with a shovel. The gang then frees themselves and flee, while the Doctor continues onto Paris. In the prison, Susan and Barbara are taken from their cells and put in the line of prisoners to be taken for the guillotine. Ian, who had been removed from the execution list by Lamaitre, watches them be escorted to their deaths from his cell. A Change of Identity (3) As the Doctor arrives in Paris, he goes to look for his companions somewhere in the city. When the prison warden brings Ian some food, he is called away by Lamaitre, leaving the keys in the door of his cell. Ian seizes the opportunity to take the key to his cell off the ring and stash it away, replacing a different key in the lock. Meanwhile, Barbara and Susan, who is growing evermore ill, are being taken through the city on a cart when one of the horses throws a shoe. Thankfully, the cart is hijacked by two counter-revolutionaries, Jules and Jean, who rescues Barbara and Susan and takes them to safety. Wandering through the city, the Doctor finds his way to a clothing shop, where the shopkeeper points out where the Conciergerie Prison is for him. The Doctor spots a uniform in the shop signifying the rank of a Regional Officer of the Provinces and tells him that he holds the rank, exchanging his outfit and ring for the uniform. Elsewhere, Jules brings Barbara and Susan to a safe house where they are given food. In the prison, Ian waits for the chance to use the key he stole to get out of his cell and then sneaks out of the prisoner past the enebriated warden, unaware that Lamaitre is watching him in the hopes of being lead back to James Stirling. Susan and Barbara tell Jules of Rouvrey and D'Argenson's fates, Jean is convinced that someone is informing on them. Jules offers to send someone to the farmhouse to search for the Doctor and to help free Ian, unaware that both are free in the city. Susan is taken to bed, still feeling ill. Léon arrives to speak with Jules, telling him that a man was seen around the prison asking about him. After he and Jean leave, Léon strikes up an a flirtatious conversation with Barbara The Doctor arrives at the prison in the Regional Officer's uniform and speaks with the prison warden, asking after his companions, learning that Barbara and Susan were liberated by counter-revolutionaries and that Ian escaped (not relating the real reason for his being injured, however). As the Doctor leaves, he is approached by Lamaitre, who tells him that he is supposed to have a meeting with Robespierre. After they've gone, the shopkeeper comes to the prisoner claiming to have evidence of a traitor and present the warden with the Doctor's ring. The Tyrant of France (4) Lamaitre brings the Doctor before Robespierre so as to give him a report on the Southern Province. Robespierre comes across to the Doctor as a psychopathic zealot with his constant talk of frequent executions. In spite of having said very little, Robespierre seems comfortable with the Doctor and invites him to return. In the safe house, Barbara and Léon tend to Susan's illness, with Jules' sister acting decidedly uneasy around Léon. Despite the risks, Léon opts to go and send for a physician to help Susan and leaves. After Barbara takes Susan back upstairs, Jules and Jean return through the window with a unconscious figure, unaware that it's Ian. Back at the prison, the Doctor tries to get away from Lamaitre to avoid any further meetings with Robespierre, but to no avail. The warden sends Lamaitre to speak with the shopkeeper, who presents him the Doctor's ring. The Doctor again tries to leave but the warden holds him at gunpoint, forcing his hand. The shopkeepers tells Lamaitre of the previous exchange and leaves, after Lamaitre takes the Doctor's possessions from him. Ian awakens and Barbara clarifies his identity to Jules and Jean. Ian tells him about Webster and asks him if he knows anything of James Stirling, but Jules knows nothing of him. Realising that Stirling would be using an alias to avoid detection, the only person that could identify him was Webster. Jules agrees to help Ian search for Stirling with Jean goes to look for the Doctor. Jules suspects that Léon may be able to help find Stirling when Barbara comes down and says that Susan's condition is getting worse. The following morning, Ian offers to take Susan to the physician, but Jules suggests Barbara take her while he speaks with Léon. The physician says that Susan has a fever and goes to get some leeches for bloodletting treatment; when Barbara and Susan try to leave, they find themselves locked in. Their location is reported to Lamaitre by the physician, who was a spy, and they are rearrested when soldiers storm the facility. They are brought back to the prison and thrown in separate cells; Barbara is put in the cell that the Doctor is waiting in. Jules gives Ian a map to find Léon and he goes to meet him at the disclosed location. However, when he arrives, Léon draws his pistol and calls out a squad of revolutionary soldiers to surround him A Bargain of Necessity (5) The soldiers back Ian against a wall and chain him up in manacles; Léon confesses to being a traitor and admits to only getting close the Jules in order to take him out. He keeps Ian alive in order to get information from him, not believing he has none to offer. In the prison, the Doctor and Barbara are overheard talking about Jules and the safe house by Lamaitre when he is called away for a meeting with Robespierre. Upon leaving, he orders Susan's cell to be closely guarded, threatening the warden with execution should the cell be opened. The Doctor proposes to use his newly-found sway to try and get Susan and Barbara away from the prison under the nose of the warden. He coaxes the warden into allowing Barbara to escape while he works on a way to free Susan. Jules returns to the safe house to find Ian had not returned and goes looking for him. The soldier's keep Ian chained up, hoping to get information from him; Léon attempts to drive information out of him, but still doesn't believe that Ian doesn't know anything about James Stirling. Ian tries to get Léon to tell him about Stirling's identity, but Ian just believes Ian to be another English spy. Ian manages to keep him talking when Jules arrives and saves him from the soldiers, killing Léon for his treachery. They leave to try and rescue Barbara and Susan from the prison. The Doctor visits Susan from outside her cell and tells her that he has a plan to get her out. As he leaves, he is approached by the warden, who he suggests let Susan free to follow after Barbara so he can follow and 'arrest' all of them. The warden refuses for fear of being sent for execution by Lamaitre. Meanwhile, Lamaitre is called before Robespierre and ordered to follow his deputy, Paul Barras, who Robespierre believes is plotting to discredit and denounce him at an upcoming convention. Ian and Jules return to the safe house to find Barbara waiting for them. She tells them that the Doctor will arrive at the safe house with Susan later, a situation that Ian is throughly amused by. However, tensions are frayed when Jules reveals he had to kill Léon to save Ian and Barbara is strongly distressed and horrified by this course of action. The Doctor returns to Susan's cell and tells her to hide behind the door as best as she can and wait for his signal. He tells the warden that she's escaped and knocks him unconscious when he going to check the cell. As he and Susan run to leave, however, they are caught dead-to-rights by Lamaitre. As the warden has Susan locked up again, Lamaitre takes the Doctor aside and informs him that he'd known of his duplicity the whole time, only not arresting him because he felt he needed him as an ally. He offers to release Susan if the Doctor would cooperate with him in finding Jules. In the safe house, Jules returns after looking for the Doctor and Susan and Barbara apologises for the way she spoke to him about Léon. The Doctor soon arrives, leading Lamaitre in after him and Jules declares that he's betrayed them. Prisoners of Conciergerie (6) Lamaitre insists he and the Doctor came alone and that it was he who arranged Ian's escape from the prisoner, ensuring that the key and the warden were dealt with. He then reveals that he's James Stirling and that he was tasked with getting to Webster but wasn't in time. Ian gives Stirling the message from Webster that he is to return to England urgently to give his information. He tells Jules of Robespierre's instructions to him and Ian remembers that Webster mentioned the name of a inn were Barras is expected to meet with his contact. If Stirling were to get the information, he could safely return to England. To get Susan out of prison with little trouble, Ian and Barbara agree to attend to meeting for Stirling to get the information while the Doctor and he keep watch from afar. Later that night, Jules, Barbara and Ian disguise themselves and await Barras' arrival; when he finally turns up, Ian escorts him to his room where he meets with his contact, Napoleon Bonaparte. He and Barbara listen into the conversation from the other room and confirm Barras' coup against Robespierre. They report the story back to Stirling, who supposes that Napoleon's plan would be worse from France than Robespierre remaining in power. While Jules goes to fetch a carriage, the Doctor and Barbara go to the prisoner to free Susan. Realising the approaching rabble, Robespierre locks himself in his quarters, but the soldiers storm in and arrest him. Stirling and Ian arrive just as he is taken away by the soldiers. The Doctor returns to the prison and bluffs the warden into thinking that he came to Paris to ensure Robespierre's downfall and agrees not to have him arrested and executed for being Lamaitre's 'accomplice. While the warden prepares to receive Robespierre and his associates, the Doctor takes the key and releases Susan. They hurry away just as the rabble arrives and meet with Ian and Barbara when Jules brings the carriage. Jules sends them away in the carriage with Stirling prepares to return to England. The travellers arrive back at the TARDIS and ponder on what would have happened if they'd told Napoleon about the things that were due to happen to him. As they wonder, the Doctor queries that there is still lots to see and learn in the stars and that they now go and find it. Cast * Dr. Who - William Hartnell * Ian Chesterton - William Russell * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill * Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford * Small Boy - Peter Walker * Rouvray - Laidlaw Dalling * D'Argenson - Neville Smith * Sergeant - Robert Hunter * Lieutenant - Ken Lawrence * Soldier - James Hall * Judge - Howard Charlton * Jailer - Jack Cunningham * Webster - Jeffry Wickham * Overseer - Dallas Cavell * Peasant - Dennis Cleary * Lemaitre - James Cairncross * Jean - Roy Herrick * Jules Renan - Donald Morley * Shopkeeper - John Barrard * Danielle - Caroline Hunt * Léon Colbert - Edward Brayshaw * Robespierre - Keith Anderson * Physician - Ronald Pickup * Soldier - Terry Bale * Paul Barras - John Law * Napoléon - Tony Wall * Soldier - Patrick Marley Crew * Writer - Dennis Spooner * Director - Henric Hirsch * Producer - Verity Lambert * Script Editor - David Whitaker * Designer - Roderick Laing * Assistant Floor Manager - Michael Cager * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield * Costumes - Daphne Dare * Film Cameraman - Peter Hamilton * Film Editor - Caroline Shields * Incidental Music - Stanley Myers * Make-Up - Jill Summers * Make-Up - Sonia Markham * Production Assistant - Timothy Combe * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson * Studio Lighting - Howard King * Studio Sound - Chick Anthony * Studio Sound - Ray Angel * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire * Title Music - Ron Grainer References To be added Story notes To be added Broadcast & Ratings Continuity To be added Home video and audio releases To be added External Links * Official ''The Reign of Terror'' page on '''Doctor Who Website Category:First Doctor Television Stories Category:Season 1 stories Category:1964 television stories Category:Six-part serials Category:Stories set in France Category:Stories set in the 18th Century Category:Stories featuring Napoleon Bonaparte Category:Serials with missing episodes